Tips On Successfully Starting A Home Massage Business

If you have just graduated as a Massage Therapist and want to start up your practice from home here are some ways you get started.

First of all, let me say that starting from home is an excellent way to keep overhead costs down, build up a solid client base in the control of your own environment and there are no traveling times to and from work.

Before I give you these important directions to follow lets look at this first, otherwise you won’t be able to do anything: The hardest thing about getting starting is developing momentum. This factor is so underestimated. It’s very easy to sit back and say “it’s all too hard” and rely on clients to come to you without any effort. It can be hard because you have to be very self motivated and be willing to put the time in to start this momentum.

So what are some ways to make this “gaining momentum” easier?

Write down in a special book (blank) that every day you will commit to a minimum of at least one hour dedicated to the pursuit of getting clients. If you work better with routine, then say to yourself “okay everyday, Monday to Friday, between 10 am and 11am I am going to work actively at getting clients.”

See how that feels already? Already you have formed a picture in your mind of yourself actually doing that. That picture can grow into reality and form into your life. That mental image is the basis of getting what you want. It’s very important.

The next thing to do is to have a very clear picture in your mind of what you want to be experiencing. In your special book (I call this my “inspiration book” its really a business planning book, but you can call it whatever name works to get you going) you can then ask yourself a question:

What are some of the ways I can start getting clients today?

Your response might be “contact the local Physical Therapy Center and introduce myself, and leave a brochure or flyer there.” It’s a small gesture but it might lead to something else later.

Make sure though, that the clients you want to treat actually go to the Physical Therapy Center. No point marketing yourself where your potential clients have no intention of going. I want to make that point as clear as the palm of your hand.

The next thing to do is to make sure you follow up and follow up with these people or places you contact. It’s SO important to keep tabs on what your results are from your contact so that you know what’s getting you clients and what is not.

There is no point contacting a swimming center over and over again over a 4 month time frame, and leaving brochures there if you get absolutely no clients from that. There’s no sense “flogging a dead horse” as the saying goes.

This is why you must keep tabs. All you have to do for this is to write in your special book how many times you have contacted them over what period of time and whether you got any response from the swim center or not. If you did special offers and incentives to the swim center over a 6 month period, and gave your “all” and got absolutely nothing back, move on.

If you contacted the Physical Therapist a few times and had two clients from them and those clients came back and referred you other clients over a six month period, to compare, then you know that source is a good source to work on. Perhaps then you can contact the Therapist with a thank you card and some incentive for them to keep referring you their clients. It might be free massage, it might be something else. Whatever it is, make sure you do it and give them something they will like. There is no point rewarding them for the business they have given you with a nice bottle of white wine if they dislike alcohol! Just find out from their receptionist or colleague first. It’s just a bit of sneaky detective work that will go along way.

When do you stop your daily hour commitment to getting clients? You never actually stop working on your massage business to get clients, you’ll always be doing it. That’s just business and if you’ve been in it for as long as I have (since 1994) or for twenty minutes you must realise that the act of marketing is just as important as the massage itself.

The more you build up the busier you will be and that time you spend may go from one hour a day to three hours a week, but whatever time it is, make should you do it and commit to it.

Don’t worry if you take a bit of time to actually gain this momentum, just make sure you commit to it and follow through. Because the thing about starting to take action like this is actually making a promise to yourself and, on a personal level, enhancing your self esteem as well.

Amy Roberts is a Massage Therapist and International Business Consultant for Massage Therapists. Amy has helped over 5000 people world wide grow their massage businesses, and is also an international speaker on many issues that therapists face in their businesses. Amy has a regular column with the AMTA and Massage Magazine. Amy has 6 eBooks that she sells online and coaches therapists in person, in groups and is aiming to turn her information into registered courses. Amy’s websites are www.MassageTherapySuccess.com and www.massageTherapyMarketingSuccess.com

Cynthia

It's both unethical and in many states illegal to "reward" people for referrals. It's called a kickback, and you can be heavily fined or even go to jail for it. You can also lose your license and membership in professional organizations like AMTA and NCBTMB.
Even if there weren't laws against this sort of thing, this is a really shady way of operating. How would you feel if you were the patient in this case, knowing that your physical therapist or other health care provider made the decision to refer you to a particular massage therapist because that therapist had given them a bottle of wine rather than because they were the best therapist for your particular concerns??